Becoming an infant
Dear friends,
Grace, peace, joy and all good!
Today I share with you a little about becoming an infant. Yesterday I had already written to you briefly about ascending by humility and also about considering our own littleness and insignificance as one of the stepping stones or foundation stones of becoming humble. Today I share with you about a particular aspect of humility which is becoming "infant-like". Who does not love children? And who does not love infants! I have seen even teenagers who distance themselves from their parents or relatives because they feel they do not understand them; but when such teenagers see an infant, they smile, run to them and clasp them in their arms. And if this infant seems happy to be in their arms, the joy of these teenagers know no bounds. We all love infants, and our Lord loves them even more. What are the qualities of infants which make them so endearing? One great quality is their innocence. What makes them innocent? They are innocent of "good and evil". They do not know "good or evil" they are just innocent. Now, if we were to become like infants, we too would be innocent of the knowledge concerning good and evil. But of course, we all know that infants, even though innocent of this knowledge of good and evil, are all full of goodness. An infant can compete in goodness and may even easily and readily overtake even the best man or woman who claim to be good. Therefore, is not admirable if we too try to become innocent like infants? Now consider how we lose our innocence - it is when we grow up, we try to grasp for "knowledge concerning good and evil" - quite often what happens? We all know from our own experience - we end up by losing much of our inherent and natural goodness. So now, what can we do? Can we, dearest brothers and sisters, take a decision to refrain from choosing to "know" for ourselves - a knowing which is very often led by our own appetities and our own curiosity? Can we refrain from satisfying our curiosity? It is a great sacrifice. It is a great fasting. But I can assure you it will be rewarded swiftly by God. When we refrain from being led by curiosity, we become innocent, our intelligence becomes purified from darkness and God allows us to read from books written in Heaven, or in other words imparts to our intellect an infused knowledge about heavenly things.
"Blessed are you, Simon son of John, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in Heaven." (Matthew 16.17).
"I bless You, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever, and for revealing them to infants." (Matthew 11.25)
"O Lord, my heart is not haughty,
I do not set my sights too high.
I have taken no part in great affairs,
In wonders beyond my scope.
No, I hold myself in quiet and silence,
Like a little child in its mother's arms,
Like a little child, so I keep myself.
Let Israel hope in the Lord
Henceforth and forever."
(Psalm 131)
May the Lord Jesus, the God who waits for us in Heaven to make us His heirs of a Kingdom that can never be spoiled or soiled or never fade away, reassure our hearts and grant to them healing and comfort while we journey in this valley of tears. He also waits to bless us with unique gifts! He says to us, "If only you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me something to drink' you would have been the one to ask, and He would have given you living water!" (John 4.10)
Dear brother and sisters, let us never stop asking for this Gift of Living Water, especially as we approach the great Feast of Pentecost! Let us never stop striving for holiness, striving to become innocent!
And above all our striving, as this innocence is also a gift, may the Lord Jesus Christ, in answer to our plea, bless us all with this gift of innocence, a gift which He freely and bountifully grants to all those who are called to belong to His people, a gift which fills our hearts with overflowing joy!
"How blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God." (Matthew 5.8)
Dear friends,
Grace, peace, joy and all good!
Today I share with you a little about becoming an infant. Yesterday I had already written to you briefly about ascending by humility and also about considering our own littleness and insignificance as one of the stepping stones or foundation stones of becoming humble. Today I share with you about a particular aspect of humility which is becoming "infant-like". Who does not love children? And who does not love infants! I have seen even teenagers who distance themselves from their parents or relatives because they feel they do not understand them; but when such teenagers see an infant, they smile, run to them and clasp them in their arms. And if this infant seems happy to be in their arms, the joy of these teenagers know no bounds. We all love infants, and our Lord loves them even more. What are the qualities of infants which make them so endearing? One great quality is their innocence. What makes them innocent? They are innocent of "good and evil". They do not know "good or evil" they are just innocent. Now, if we were to become like infants, we too would be innocent of the knowledge concerning good and evil. But of course, we all know that infants, even though innocent of this knowledge of good and evil, are all full of goodness. An infant can compete in goodness and may even easily and readily overtake even the best man or woman who claim to be good. Therefore, is not admirable if we too try to become innocent like infants? Now consider how we lose our innocence - it is when we grow up, we try to grasp for "knowledge concerning good and evil" - quite often what happens? We all know from our own experience - we end up by losing much of our inherent and natural goodness. So now, what can we do? Can we, dearest brothers and sisters, take a decision to refrain from choosing to "know" for ourselves - a knowing which is very often led by our own appetities and our own curiosity? Can we refrain from satisfying our curiosity? It is a great sacrifice. It is a great fasting. But I can assure you it will be rewarded swiftly by God. When we refrain from being led by curiosity, we become innocent, our intelligence becomes purified from darkness and God allows us to read from books written in Heaven, or in other words imparts to our intellect an infused knowledge about heavenly things.
"Blessed are you, Simon son of John, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in Heaven." (Matthew 16.17).
"I bless You, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever, and for revealing them to infants." (Matthew 11.25)
"O Lord, my heart is not haughty,
I do not set my sights too high.
I have taken no part in great affairs,
In wonders beyond my scope.
No, I hold myself in quiet and silence,
Like a little child in its mother's arms,
Like a little child, so I keep myself.
Let Israel hope in the Lord
Henceforth and forever."
(Psalm 131)
May the Lord Jesus, the God who waits for us in Heaven to make us His heirs of a Kingdom that can never be spoiled or soiled or never fade away, reassure our hearts and grant to them healing and comfort while we journey in this valley of tears. He also waits to bless us with unique gifts! He says to us, "If only you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me something to drink' you would have been the one to ask, and He would have given you living water!" (John 4.10)
Dear brother and sisters, let us never stop asking for this Gift of Living Water, especially as we approach the great Feast of Pentecost! Let us never stop striving for holiness, striving to become innocent!
And above all our striving, as this innocence is also a gift, may the Lord Jesus Christ, in answer to our plea, bless us all with this gift of innocence, a gift which He freely and bountifully grants to all those who are called to belong to His people, a gift which fills our hearts with overflowing joy!
"How blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God." (Matthew 5.8)
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